


stealing stuff

by Adaris



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Kaminoan-Typical Ableism, Kaminoans Being Assholes (Star Wars), M/M, Minor Character Death, cody and obi-wan: oh hey same trauma, this is my emotional support jedi knight
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:41:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28437786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Adaris/pseuds/Adaris
Summary: Cody, Wolffe, Bly, Fox, and Gale cause problems as little toddler cadets! Jango indulges them just this once (probably. maybe). But on Kamino, there's a price for everything, one that Cody finds himself still paying years later.
Relationships: CC-2224 | Cody/Obi-Wan Kenobi
Comments: 9
Kudos: 172





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> every time you see them happy, you remember how sad they’re going to be. and it breaks your heart, because what’s the point in them being happy now if they’re going to be sad later? 
> 
> the answer is, of course, because they're going to be sad later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mando'a Translations
> 
> ad’ike — literally like saying 'kidlets'  
> buir — parent  
> kote — glory (baby Cody goes by this name! at least he would if I were in charge of SW)

Kote wriggles in through the open window and plops to the floor. His wide brown eyes take in every detail of the room, and only when he's decided it's all clear does he wave a hand for his brothers to follow him.

After a moment, the rest of Lambda Squad piles inside after him—Wolffe, Fox, Bly, and Gale. The window closes and locks behind them, but they don’t seem to notice. They're too busy getting to work. Bly, Fox and Kote go hunting for their objective, while Wolffe and Gale watch the door for funny business.

Kote is the most adventurous, clambering up onto one of the breakfast nook stools and then onto the countertop. His eyes lock on something leaning against the wall, presumably his prize, and he scoots across the countertop with criminal intent. Fox tries to stand on his tiptoes to get a look too, reaching up to grab the edge of the counter, but he's too small, and just the tips of his fingers manage to clear the edge.

With a triumphant sound, Kote pushes the bag of rolls to the floor. Fox very seriously helps Kote back to the ground, and they rip the wrapper open together.

"We got them!" Fox chirps.

Both of them pause to sniff the cinnamon rolls, and their eyes close in satisfaction. The rolls are so large that they have to use both hands to hold onto them. Kote takes a huge bite out of his, then tries to tell his brothers to join him, and is genuinely surprised when he can't quite manage it. 

Bly runs over and grabs a cinnamon roll, then gently unrolls it and eats it from the center, letting the rest of it dangle from his mouth. After a moment, Wolffe, and Gale join the group, and they all chat quietly to each other as they eat.

" _Ad’ike_ ," Jango says from the ‘fresher doorway. None of the cadets had managed to spot him, incredibly. They might need more training with infiltration.

All five children freeze in place for a single second, then leap into action. Wolffe makes a break for the window, bouncing ineffectually off the glass. Cody and Fox scamper into the open closet and peek out at Jango from underneath a jacket. Bly dives under the bed, his little shoes sticking out into the room. And Gale just sits there guiltily, eyes wide, a half-eaten cinnamon roll in one hand.

"Okay, okay, the jig's up. You all forgot the most important part of committing a crime," Jango reminds them. 

The cadets slowly gather in front of Jango until he has five adorable toddlers looking up at him. Kote fiddles with a strand of dark, curly hair, and Wolffe is chewing anxiously on the hem of a sleeve. 

He forces himself to stay serious and not immediately start cuddling them and giving them all the treats they want, because that’s not how they're going to learn. Kark, these kids could weaponize cuteness. "You need to be able to get away with it. Plausible deniability."

"Paws-able deny-a-bill-a-tea," Kote repeats dutifully, with significant effort.

Jango pats the kid’s head as he sits down. "Yep, that's it. Always have a way out, and don’t leave any evidence behind."

"Are you angry with us?" Bly asks, eyes wide.

He shakes his head. "No, of course not—"

The group pounces on him, their little voices babbling happily. He manages to catch Gale around his middle, and the child giggles, reaching for Jango. Not a few seconds later, all of them have wriggled into his arms, wanting attention.

Jango gives them all a squeeze. "So why did you all try to steal cinnamon rolls? You can have snacks whenever you want in the mess hall."

"Cin-in-a-min is tastier," Fox explains seriously.

"Me an’ Kote an’ Gale like it the mostest of all the foods," Bly adds.

Jango smiles and ruffles Bly's hair. "Okay, I’ll have them add some to the hall, how’s that?"

"Yay!" Kote cheers. "Thank you, _Buir_!"

"I'm gonna eat so much rolls!" Bly shouts. Then he repeats to himself, "I'm gonna eat _so_ much rolls."

Gale just sits and watches them, not quite understanding but happy to be there anyway.

"Alright, kids, you should all be in bed now. Don’t make me call Kal."

Kote scampers away before Jango can even raise a hand to his comm. Wolffe grumpily takes Gale's hand and marches off down the hallway, dragging his brother behind him.

"Thank you for the cin-na-min rolls, _Buir_ ," Fox recites, then he runs after his brothers.

Bly giggles and pats Jango’s knee before disappearing too.

The next day, all the little CCs shuffle into the mess hall and find cinnamon rolls for everyone. Jango smiles as he watches them all giggle happily to each other. Although now it occurs to him that he may have set a precedent.

—

"What else do we want from _Buir_?" Kote asks as he munches on his cinnamon roll. 

"Whistlin’ birds in all our kit. No wait, big knives!" Wolffe interrupts. He mimes stabbing the air violently with a knife.

"I wanna loth-cat. They’re _sooo_ cute," Gale says. "We can all pet it and give it treats and take it for walks." 

Everyone agrees that a pet loth-cat is definitely worth the effort. 

"Dunno about all of you, but I want there to be spicy food sometimes," Fox decides after a moment. "And I wanna big fluffy pit of pillows we can all sleep in."

"I want a hundred of those," Bly agrees. 

"Guess we’re gonna be busy this year." Kote grins at the prospect of future theft. "But before that, we gotta find out what the paws-able deny-bill-tea is and steal some of that first."

Lambda Squad all nod knowingly to themselves. The future awaits, if they can work out how to steal it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter (with all the Codywan) up on January 1st!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love flipping over the fluff and finding the angsty hurt/comfort underneath

"Cody, I got you something while I was giving my report!" Obi-Wan holds out a paper bag that reads _Coruissants._ "I hope you like it."

"Thanks, babe." Cody opens the bag, expecting a croissant, and pulls out a very familiar roll, still slightly warm from the oven, icing sweet and sticky. Without meaning to, he stops in place, staring. When was the last time he saw one of these?

Obi-Wan's little smile morphs into a frown. "I’m sorry, do you not like cinnamon rolls? I knew I should have asked. I can get you something else next time."

"No. It’s not that." Cody sets the roll down. "Just thinking."

"About what?" Obi-Wan asks.

"My squadmates. When we were just cadets, three or four years old." Cody shakes his head and sits down on the closest thing, which happens to be the bed. "We broke into Jango Fett's quarters, and he caught us stealing his cinnamon rolls. It was me, Bly, Wolffe, Fox, and Gale."

"No wonder all of you turned out so talented, starring in heists at that age," Obi-Wan says, only a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "Although I don't recall a commander named Gale?"

Well fuck. "You wouldn't. He died before the war began. I was just—this was his favorite food." Cody hasn't eaten one of these since he went by a different name.

Obi-Wan sits down next to Cody. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." Cody’s eyes start to burn. He's fine. Isn't he always? 

A warm hand brushes against the side of Cody’s face. "Are you?"

"I’m fine," he says, leaning into Obi-Wan. He scrubs at his eyes. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Obi-Wan regards him for a long moment, blue gaze steady and even. 

Cody knows that Obi-Wan will drop it if he asks. Won't ask any questions. But he's surprised to find that he wants to talk about this, almost needs to. "Gale was different," he admits after a long moment, chewing on his lip. "I don't know why, but he just wasn't as sharp as everyone else. They didn't recycle him because they knew how much we—if we did good, they would let him live. But if we ever failed, they said they’d take him away. And we—so we were the best. Because we had to be, otherwise they’d—" Cody covers his mouth with his hand, stifling a sob. Maybe he wasn't ready. 

Obi-Wan pulls him in close and doesn’t say anything.

He takes a long moment to breathe, calm the hell down, put his thoughts in order. He's never told this as a story, and he doesn't quite know where to start. "They called it _nonstandard external motivation_. It was an experiment, to see if there were better ways of training us. They had our group train in different scenarios, different... When we were twelve, Prime had left Kamino on a job. And the _kaminii_ gave us a challenge. We were locked in a room, and if we escaped, we’d—and if we didn’t—" Cody chokes again and forces himself to say thickly, "We weren’t good enough. They let us out after we failed, and he—they took him away. Said we weren’t good enough to deserve him. Then they gave us Rex. And told us to do better next time."

Obi-Wan’s arms tighten around Cody, and he clings back, squeezing as hard as he can.

"Prime said it wasn't our fault, when he came back. That the room was impossible. But we’re supposed to do the impossible, that’s our job, and Gale wasn’t scared until he saw that we were, and then he told us that it was okay. He told _us_ —and we—" The walls Cody had been holding up around his emotions crumble, and he cries into Obi-Wan’s shoulder. It’s been years, and it still feels kind of like he's collapsing into a black hole.

Obi-Wan gives him another squeeze, the fabric of his robes rough and warm and familiar. Cody's fingers tighten in the cloth.

"That’s a terrible memory to carry," Obi-Wan says gently, "and the Kaminoans should never have put you in that situation. It is not your fault."

He chokes down a sob. "If we'd been better, Gale would still be here."

"It’s easy to blame yourself, but I know that it's _not your fault_ ," Obi-Wan says, his smooth voice gone rough around the edges.

"How do you know?" Cody asks, hiccuping in between the words. "You weren't there."

Obi-Wan shifts so he's holding Cody securely against his chest, then kisses his hair. For a long moment, they stay quiet. Obi-Wan's breathing is slow and even, like he's centering himself before he speaks. "When I was thirteen, one of my friends was murdered in front of me. I had allowed my connection to the Force to weaken—we'd struggled for so long, and I was so angry—and I didn’t sense anything until she was gone. It’s been years, and it's still hard to remember it wasn’t my fault." He kisses the top of Cody's head again. "But it wasn't mine, and it wasn't yours, either."

"You're right. It _is_ hard to believe." Cody bites down hard on his lip and flops back on the bed. "But I guess—maybe that makes sense."

Obi-Wan joins him, for once not rubbing his victory in. "And Rex is still here."

"Yeah, he is. Kriff. Well, thanks for the cinnamon roll." Cody tries to smile. "Sorry about the emotions."

Cody gets booped on the nose. "That's nothing to apologize for. But please let me know if there are any other baked goods I should avoid."

"Bear claws. I'm allergic to almonds," he deadpans on instinct. He rolls onto his side. "And I think it's good to remember him, even if I—you know. We were all so young when he died that I don't actually have that many memories of him." He fiddles with the collar of Obi-Wan's outer tunic. "I think I want to call my brothers. Just to talk for a bit."

Obi-Wan nods sagely. "That sounds like a good idea."

"You wanna stay?" Cody offers. "Can't be without my emotional support Jedi."

"I mean, if you don't think your brothers will mind the intrusion."

"I'm willing to bet all the credits I have that by the end of our conversation, we'll all be holding on to our emotional support Jedi."

"Maybe you're our emotional support clone commanders," Obi-Wan comments.

Cody grins. "Maybe. Whatever we are, we're doing it together."

"Oh, that's awful," Obi-Wan says with a world-weary sigh. "Really, just the absolute worst."

Cody tilts his head up to kiss him and slides one arm around Obi-Wan's slim waist, tugging him in closer. "Yep. But it's true."

During the call, Cody realizes they haven’t actually talked in a group since they were deployed. It’s been a tough three years, but they’ve all managed to survive—after the Utapau campaign, Cody’s going to pull some serious strings so they can be together in person.

So much has been taken from them, but he knows they’ll always have this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah I know v__v 
> 
> Thank you for reading!


End file.
